


Lightning Bugs

by QueenBumbleB33



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Connie's a sick wingman, Don't worry it's brief though, Eventual Smut, Friends to Lovers, Homophobic comments will pop up somewhere, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Jean's POV, M/M, Mild Language, Roommates, Slow Build, Underage Drinking, but not Marco and Jean together, lots of fluff, lots of that good gay shit, oh boy a college fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 08:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11824674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenBumbleB33/pseuds/QueenBumbleB33
Summary: Jean Kirstein is a simple man with simple desires. Well, desires that his family wants, anyway: a good paying job, a loving wife, and mini-Jean's, as terrifying as that sounds, running amok. But he has to get through college first, with his major and minor undecided. Because he joined Shingeki University at the last minute, he got four roommates: the big ol' bear of a man, in the sense of he's large as all fuck and really gay, Reiner Braun, the chill weedie Connie Springer, and the annoying (even if Jean is the only one who finds him annoying) Eren Jaeger. Jean's image of a perfect life is shattered the minute he looks into the eyes of a particular freckled saint, and from there, his life is less of a walk in the park and more of a roller-coaster ride during an earthquake.





	Lightning Bugs

**Author's Note:**

> [Hello, my special little bumblebees! Yes, I know that the fandom went back to sleep after the release of Season 2, and the JeanMarco ship has been dead for a long time, but I don't care, it's amazingly adorable and I will make it live. This is my first fic that I will be completing, any others for the time being are undetermined, and I'm quite excited! I suggest reading the tags before the fic to make sure this is all your style, because from this point on, I will only give brief warnings up here as to what's going to come. Anyways! I hope you all enjoy the first installment of this series? maybe?? if it does well??? I will put notes at the end of the chapter to give some foreshadowing, a link to my tumblr, and other information you may need!]

There are a million ways to tale the tell of "Jean and Marco: a tale of two star-crossed lovers trying to make it in the world". Well, actually, only two ways because it's my side, and Marco's side. As you probably guessed, I'm Jean, Jean Kirstein. As much as you would probably love to hear the story told by my beloved husband, I'm going to tell it my way so shut up and sit down. This is the story of how we met, grew as friends, then a couple, yadda yadda yadda, shit you don't need to hear, blah blah blah, let's get it over with. Our story starts 7 years ago (incredible how I remember this from so long ago. Then again, how could I forget?), on the evening before Halloween...

 

* * *

 

"No." I rolled my eyes at the choice of costumes everyone was wearing. It was stupid, and no way in hell was I going to wear it.

It was a crisp night near the end of October, gusts of wind constantly blowing into the window panes of the dorm rooms of Shingeki University and making this really obnoxious noise every single time I swear to god if it does it again I will--

Sorry. I get a little heated sometimes. It was hard not to when I had to deal with 3 incredibly loud roommates. First, there was Connie. A chill dude, can crack a good joke, has got a "friend" (Sasha and Connie are so close i considered them dating) that's incredibly loud and obnoxious. But still, he was really cool and I was happy to have him as a roomie at first... until I found his bong shoved into a closet. Cool, he does weed and it stinks up the whole dorm. Awesome. Moving on from him, we have Reiner. He's really cool, pretty nice and knows when to back away when I'm in a mood, so that's always appreciated. His downside is how gay he is. Not saying that being gay is a bad thing, he's just really gay and always has sex with some guy named Bertholdt (who was pretty quiet and didn't talk to me much, but when he did, he was usually being nice or a teasing little shit. He doesn't room with us, though, he's up in the Maria dorm building while we're in the Rose building and rooms with only one guy, who I haven't met), and _holy fuck_ they are loud when they go at it. Lastly, there's the worst of them all: Eren fucking Jaeger. Not only did I share one of my classes with him AND the same room while Reiner and Connie (poor him, having to constantly sleep on the couch when Bert's over) share the other room, I've dealt with him all through middle school. When I first met him, I thought he was alright. But he said some nasty shit and we butt heads a lot, plus the fact that he stole away my biggest crush without even trying. Ugh, god, I hate him. He's Bisexual, and is dating someone from the Sina building. Armin, I think it was? But, yeah. These were the shits I had to room with and it got me pretty mad sometimes. Although, I guess that's my downside, then. Ah, well, we all still dealt with each other anyways.

Today was the day before Halloween, my personal favorite holiday, and these three shits were trying to ruin it. Not only were they planning to drag me to a party up at Bert's place, they wanted to have a big group costume. So, what better than to go as Disney princesses? God damn, I hate them sometimes. I didn't even get Jasmine, she's my favorite! Frankly, nobody else did, because I'm pretty sure Bert and Armin is in on it and one of them is going as her. I didn't even get Mulan, who's a cool badass! Of course Eren got her. Ugh. Connie was going as Pocahontas, because of the matching skin tones, and Reiner was going as Belle to wear the pretty dress. I got stupid ass Snow White, who gives a shit about her? That's right, nobody. 

Reiner groaned in annoyance. "Dude, come on, just wear it. It's for literally one night."

"Yeah, but--"

"Jean, don't even say a word about the girls there, they were going to laugh at you no matter what costume you chose."

I hit him in the arm for that one, before reluctantly swiping the dress out of his hands. No point in trying to talk him out of it more than I already have, I guess, I've been trying for 20 minutes. I traveled to the bathroom, past Connie adjusting his "cute little boots", and slammed the door behind me. I was quick to shuck off my Green Day shirt and skinny jeans, and was slow to put on the dress. The skirt was really nice, letting my legs free, but the puffs around my upper arms were very uncomfortable. This was going to be torture. The second I stepped out of the bathroom, Mulan and his prissy ass threw the wig accompanying my new dress. 

"You look great, Jean." Eren laughed at that and I threw one of the gold shoes at him. "Ow, the hell, man!"

It was my turn to laugh at him, and I slipped the wig on. _How the fuck can something be so itchy?_ I thought to myself. But nevertheless, I kept it on. Maybe, if Bert and his roomie were holding awards, we could win something, like the ribbon for "best group costume". I will gladly take the ribbon for myself, though. Connie handed me a red headband to put on, which I did, and I must say I look amazing as Snow White. If there's a live-action movie, count me in. Wait, there already is one--

"Jean, come on." I'm snapped out of my thoughts as Connie claps my shoulder with a laugh. "We'll be here all night if you don't stop looking at your dress." Oh, right. A party. Time to embarrass myself to no end.

The four of us head out the doors quickly, Reiner carrying a 12-pack of booze under his dress, however that worked. There was obviously going to be alcohol at the party - this is stressed out 19 to 20 year olds we're talking about here - but might as well add to it. The people living in the Maria building were extremely lucky, because their dorm adviser was really nice. I don't know her name, but she's better than Sina's Hitch or Rose's Marlowe. The dorm adviser was happy to let a party occur, as long as she didn't hear it. Which was not fucking fair, considering that Bertholdt and his roommate lived on the 4th floor. Grabbing an elevator, our quad squished ourselves into the tight space as best we could as we made our ascent to the highest floor. We could hear the music before we even stepped out the door, people crowding around the hallways. At least they didn't have to worry about waking up anybody, since everyone decided to come to this one party.

"Hey, guys!" A high voice was quick to greet us. Great, Eren's boyfriend Armin. In tow was Mikasa, who almost instantly talked to Eren. I rolled my eyes and tried to push past them before Armin tried talking to me. He was dressed up as, surprise surprise, Jasmine. That meant Bert must have taken Ariel, then... We are probably those freaky kids you see trick-or-treating, who are just creepy and probably too old to be doing this. But, at least pretty much everyone else was dressed up. "Wait, Jean, hold up! I may want to warn you that although the food's in there-" Connie was gone with that statement. Not only was there food, but when there's food, there's Sasha. "- it's probably safer out here. Lots of teens getting drunk." At that, Reiner dug through his dress and pulled out the beer with a cheeky smile.

"Time to add to the chaos, then." With that, he left for the party to go find his boyfriend and drink booze until I have to drag him back home. Awesome. I don't pay attention to Armin anymore and head inside the party. 

At that point, I recognize my mistake. Because I rarely know anyone at this party. I may come off as a confident asshole, but really, I'm an insecure asshole. I have plenty of trouble making friends that I rarely do it, and just stick to the people I know. I hear distant drunken whooping that can only belong to the freckled demon I met last year, in my first year of college. 

Ymir is... Well, Ymir. She's a rough and tough lesbian that takes shit from nobody, only speaks in sarcasm, and is dating one of the most beautiful girls on campus, Krista. It's kind of odd how that works, because Krista is very sweet and kind to everyone, mostly pulling Ymir out of trouble instead of getting in it herself. Quite the pair, but likable nonetheless. 

At least I can get along with them if I find them. So here I go, trying to walk through the large crowd of drunk and stupid kids that probably shouldn't be drunk, who are all trying to watch something in the living room. "Come on, lil bro! You got this, one last point and you win!" There was Ymir's voice again, coming from the middle of the living room. She had a brother? Then, I heard his voice, clear as day compared to the excited shouts of other party goers. "I'm older than you, by like, 20 seconds! So don't try to make me seem younger!" It sounded really really nice, like a songbird in speaking form. Wait, that's gay, never mind. I'm not gay, no way. But despite that, I wanted to see his face.

Time to try and blend in with the crowd. I walk into the kitchen to find Sasha stuffing her face and Connie trying to light up a blunt. I also see Bertholdt, trying to get Connie to smoke outside, to which he complies with a groan. Sasha follows after him with a pizza box in her hands, that foodie. I try not to pay attention to them as I grab a beer that tastes like dog piss and try to get through the crowd. It's hard, what with the moving of people sloshing my drink and getting it on my shirt, and I finally get to the front where people are playing beer pong. 

I see Krista first. She's drinking some cheap wine straight out the bottle and giggling from where she sits on the couch. Not going to question why the angelic Krista Lenz is drinking so much wine like that. I then see Ymir, hanging off of a tall man with her arms around his neck. Probably her brother. My suspicions are confirmed when I hear him speak. "Uno, due, tre!" Italian, so it seems. He tosses the tiny ping pong ball and lands it straight into the cup in the far back, winning him the game. I then finally get to take a look at his face. 

It's definitely Ymir's brother, a male twin. They have the same skin tone, a very nice tan compared to my paleness, and freckles dotting their skin. The male's eyes were the color of sweet October, warm and inviting and mysterious all the same, and twinkling like fireflies as he gets excited over winning. His cheeks are a clusterfuck of freckles and I am surprised greatly by it, as Ymir only has a few freckles on her face. His lips are twisted into a broad smile, combating the broadness of his shoulders that were connected to thick, freckled arms that were obvious under his costume. He was a caveman, I think? Or Superman? Or a character from an old show way back in the day? I don't know, I wasn't paying attention to it.

The more I stared at this stranger, the more I wanted to meet him. Draw him. Have another friend that isn't the very few that I have. Before I can do anything else, those shimmering brown eyes land on my hazel ones as he scans the crowd. We blink at one another until my face begins heating up in embarrassment. Oh god, he looks so cool, and here I am, wearing a Snow White costume like an idiot. I got out of there quickly and made a beeline for the kitchen, happy to find Reiner, Bertholdt, and their creepy probably-a-demon friend Annie. On my way there, I can feel those eyes of the mysterious male burning into the back of my head.

I can't help but want to know who he is, and I made it my goal to find out.

**Author's Note:**

> [Alright, first chapter is done, my dudes! Hope y'all enjoyed! As I promised, I said I would give info and tumblr links and whatnot down here. If you wanted to make me fanart (Although I'm not asking! I am quite happy with or without fanart, as long as you enjoy it all!), please use the tag "fic: Lightning Bug" on Tumblr. If you want to tag me, send me questions, look for updates on the fic, or want to talk to me directly, my tumblr is: https://queenbumblebeebaby.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> Next time on Lightning Bugs: Jean meets Marco, and can't stop thinking about him.]


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